The Bigger You Are, The More You Lose! (Money, that is!)
There are many consequences to being overweight. This I learned when I was 325 pounds. But I never realized how much my obesity cost us financially. (Hate the word “obese,” but that is what I was!)
There were the doctor bills and medication for all the colds and infections that I had when I was obese. I didn’t connect these illnesses to my weight. I reasoned that I was just susceptible to all the bugs going around. Then I lost enough weight to put me into the “average” category. Amazingly, with the loss of pounds came the loss of an overabundance of maladies. A mild cold once in a while is about all that I have to contend with these days.
Also, now my clothes are found on the misses’ racks at stores. No longer do I have to pay a couple of extra bucks for the same garment just because it has a “woman’s” or “plus size” label sewn into it. (This really made me mad when I was so overweight. I forgot to take into consideration that additional fabric was needed to create clothes for larger-size women.)
Our food budget has also slimmed down with my lost weight and this is not solely because all the junk foods have been taken off the shopping list. In my former “fat days,” I regularly ate what would be consumed by two people—two pork chops, two servings of potatoes, two helpings of dessert. (It takes a lot of calories to maintain 325 pounds!) I’m now a “normal”—whatever that is—eater.
Unable to bend
In addition to saving money, my weight loss has helped increase our budget. This new wealth stems from an incident that happened when my weight was at its greatest. One day as I was waddling into a store I noticed a $20 bill on the ground. I waited until there was nobody around and tried to pick up the money. I groaned and I tried to bend down and retrieve the bill. I couldn’t do it! I tried again; after all, it was $20. I huffed and I puffed by I couldn’t reach the ground. I had to leave this money for another lucky soul, for I was too embarrassed to ask another shopper to pick it up for me!
For days I was bugged about that $20. I kept thinking about what I would have been able to buy with the money. (With my mindset at that time, it probably would have been a half of gallon of “the good” ice cream, hot fudge sauce or some other decadent sweet treat!)
To this day, I think about the $20, but I’m no longer upset about it. It was this incident, combined with a wealth of similar missed opportunities in my obesity days, that ultimately led to my journey to health and fitness. In addition, these days you can find me picking up a penny if one is spotted. I easily bend down and scoop it up. And each time I do, I offer a prayer of thanks to God for my good health and fitness. I firmly believe that these found pennies, which fill an exceptionally large container, are my “pennies from heaven!”
Comments
The clothing price thing really bothers me because there is a greater difference in the amount of fabric used between a size 4 and a size 18 than between a size 18 and a size 22. So why not have each size be a higher price than the size below it? It's just ridiculous and usually I won't patronize stores/catalogs that upcharge for the same clothes in plus sizes.
Posted by: pink | November 15, 2006 10:35 AM
Can't wait for your new book. I pick up pennies, too. The kids think I'm nuts.
Posted by: Carol | November 15, 2006 10:54 AM
Wonderful comments about body size. You should tell us how you were able to reduce your size.
Posted by: Amy | November 20, 2006 11:08 AM